What we had was real
by Ilse17
Summary: How is it that Neal didn't resent Peter, at least a bit, if what Adler said was true : that his decision to blow the plane was linked to Peter's arrival (I mean, couldn't Peter let him go with his girl ?). But what if Adler lied and Neal knew it ? Another point of view about what happened between Kate and Adler.


**What we had was real.**

Kate opened her door. She was tired and sad, her thoughts with Neal alone in his cell, her eyes still seeing his last look while he was taken away, after the sole and too short visit she was allowed to every week. She still had to wait two days before she could see him again.

As she made one step in the flat, she tensed suddenly. She had the strange feeling that she was not alone. She'd not have missed that if she had not been that deep in thoughts. Instinctively, she did what Mozzie and Neal had taught her to do in such a situation. She stilled and began to back away very slowly, her hand on the door to prevent it to make any nose.

"It's no use, Kate", said a voice. "I know you're here".

She knew that voice ! The light went on suddenly, revealing two men in the room, one standing and one sitting on her couch. She could only focus on that one.

"Adler", she whispered.

"I hoped I was still Mr Adler for you, Kate, but good habits will come back easily".

"What do you want ?" Millions of possibilities came to Kate's mind, the main one being that Adler was here for retaliation, because Neal had planned to rob him. But it had happened years ago, and in the end, Adler had kept the upper hand.

So why ?

"Don't worry, I don't want to hurt you. But we must talk about our common friend. Shall we start ?"

"What do you want from him ?"

"I want something he stole, not long before he was caught. By the way, I've been told that it's a bit your fault he was ?"

Kate blanched. She was still unable to forgive herself for having hidden from Neal for two months after his Coppenhagen adventure. Just because she was jealous and suspicious of his relationship with Alex. She had not hiddden well enough though, Peter Burke had found her, and then had found a way to make Neal know where she was. He had set a trap, and Neal had more or less willingly fallen into it. He had even actually _thanked _Burke, telling him that without him he'd never have found her.

His freedom was less important to him than her. That was the truth, in spite of all his secrets or misdirections.

How could she have been so childishly self-centered, considering only her more or less imaginary grievance and not the danger she had put him in ? Especially as she always had intended to come back to him ?

But Adler didn't let her dwell too long on the past. His first blow was only meant to put her out of guard, and he said:

"I want to know where is Neal's stash, there is something I want in there."

Kate was not that easy to put out of balance She laughed briefly.

"I don't know where it is. He kept me completely appart from his activities."

"My dear Kate, you're far too modest. Let me introduce you to my friend. Thanks to him I have very good reasons to think otherwise."

For the first time, Kate looked at the man standing at Adler's side. She had thought he was one of her former boss's goons. She could see now he was not. Middle-aged, he looked rather educated and much smarter than an ordinary bodyguard.

"Let me introduce you to Mr Garett Fowler, of the FBI. The man had a smile that didn't reach his eyes, and showed her his card.

"Mr Fowler gave me access to all the FBI files about your boyfriend, my dear. I know very well that you worked very often together. I even know all what agent Peter Burke and his team ever managed to discover about the codes you use and track games you play when you are apart from each other. So don't you dare tell me that Neal doesn't share most of his secrets with you. I'm sure you know where he hid everything and you will tell me."

"Or else ?" Kate said with a slightly trembling voice.

"Or else, things could become very unpleasant, not only for you… but for Neal as well. Accidents happen in prison, you know. Ill-advised escape attempts, fights with other inmates … You wouldn't want him in solitaty confinement, or worse, in ICU, would you ?"

"What you say can't happen", Kate said with as much conviction as she could muster. "Neal is in a white collar prison, with maximum security, but a lot of supervision too. Peter Burke made sure he would be safe, using all the connections and leverage he had. And he told Neal to call him if he felt threatened in any way. He even told me to call him if I was worry for Neal in any way."

"I'm sure agent Burke did his best for his favorite criminal. But Burke is not immune to bullets either."

"You wouldn't dare to kill a federal agent ?"

"Are you sure of that ? I could have Burke killed, and then pin it on Neal. Everyone would think it was out of revenge. All these birthday cards he sent to his captor… Easy to see them as veiled threats !"

"I'll tell the FBI you did it ! I'll tell them you're back, they're still searching you for that ponzi scheme you ran…"

"Such loyalty. I don't recognize my little Kate, who cared for no one except her pretty self. But my dear, who would believe the murderer's girlfriend ? Kate, Kate, you don't seem to truly understand how many aces I have up my sleeve. And this brings us back to Mr. Fowler here. Mr Fowler has done things he shouldn't have done… and he's presently, let's say, at my beck and call. And I happen to know several other people in law inforcement who are exactly in the same situation. Thanks to Garett, who has just obtained his transfer in OPR, they'll do exactly what I'll tell them to do. You know me, Kate, I've always been well connected. How can you think I escaped after my big scam ?Trust me, when I say I can actually have Burke killed, and Neal accused of the murder, its nothing but the truth. You'd better tell me what I want to know, and do what I say."

Kate was livid. "He told me that he hid everything in San Diego", she whispered, defeated. "But I'm not sure he told me the truth."

"I knew you'd be reasonable as soon as you'd understand the situation…. Don't worry that much", said Adler in a mock paternal tone, "if you're sensible, no harm will come to your boyfriend. In fact, I happen to need him for a certain task. Don't misunderstand me, I don't mean that his help is absolutely necessary, but his expertise would certainly gain me time."

"What do you want him to do ?"

"That's none of your business, at least for the moment. First of all, on your next visit to him, you'll tell him that you don't love him aymore, and that you won 't come to see him again."

"What ? No way", shouted Kate.

"Oh yes, you will, if you don't want these unpleasant things I mentioned before to happen".

"But why ?", she cried, on the verge of tears.

"I could say to you that this is none of your business either, but I'll be good enough too enlighten you. I want you to tell him so, because if I know him well (and I know I do), he will go after you. He won't even wait untill the end of his sentence. I need him to be on the run, and fearing for you. I need him to believe that you're in the clutches of big bad agent Fowler. So when you see him, in a couple of days, you'll use your impressive skills as an actress to give him the impression that you break with him because you are under threat. It won't be difficult to make him believe that, considering his protective streak, especially toward you."

"And then ?" Kate managed to say, in spite of the tightening of her throat.

"And then, you'll show us that hiding place in Sand Diego. If what I want is here, good. If not, we'll find a way to make Neal understand that he must give it to Garett if he wants you back. And later, I'll make him do the job I have in mind for him. But you must never tell him that I threatened you, or even that you saw me, do you understand ? All must be agent Fowler's fault for him"

Kate closed her eyes. She wasn't sure she could do what Adler wanted. She was not sure that she could keep enough self-control in front of Neal to lie to him the way she'd had to. But she had no other choice.

_*** Six weeks later ***_

Kate heard the door open. Fowler was back. His stocky form appeared on the threshsold. He looked tense and angry.

"What happened", asked Kate anxiously.

"Things didn't go the way Adler wanted them to. Burke found Caffrey far too soon. In your former flat. He didn't even try to escape. It seems that you convinced him a little too well that you were done with him."

"It's not my fault", said Kate. "I did everything you said. I left the bottle."

"Yes, but he won't be able to use it to follow your track , as we hoped to. It will probably end up among the FBI evidences, in the 'Cave'."

"Because of you, they'll give him four more years", said Kate angrily, "all for nothing."

"Hey, no one told him to escape a few months before his release", said Fowler with a grin. "He must be really crazy about you… not that I can blame him for that, you're really a pretty little thing."

"I hate you", whispered Kate.

*** Eight months later ***

"So this is the way it happened", said Peter. He was in one of the FBI's interrogation rooms, facing Fowler. At his side was a silent Neal, eagerly listening. Peter had made a deal with Fowler : he wouldn't tell anyone that Neal had threatened him with a gun (no one except him, Peter and Diana had seen it), he would say all what he knew, and he'd be given a minimal jail time.

Fowler was ready to talk, but not fool enough to reveal Adler's name. He had been warned about what would happen in that case, and he didn't want to meet an unexplained death in prison.

"I swear you, I don't kow the name of the man who blackmailed me into getting into his schemes", he lied. "But whoever he is, that man is extremely powerful, and he knows many things about you, Caffrey. Yet his plan didn't go exactly the way he hoped. He had thought he would have you on the run, looking for Kate. The track game was meant to make you frustrated and anxious, so that you will lower your guard. First, he'd have made you tell Kate where was the music box. Then he'd have made you know that it was a dirty FBI agent who was threatening her, and he'd have offered you his help to get rid of me, thus making you think you owed him. And then, once he'd have found whatever secret the music box could reveal, he'd have asked you to help him for that task he needed you for.

"But why couldn't he wait untill I was out of prison ?" asked Neal. "Why all that complicated scheme with Kate ?"

"This man never underestimated you. He didn't want you to make the link between the music box and whatever he was up to once he'd have put his hands on it. Besides, he wanted you at his mercy, to prevent you from finding a way to take the music box back, to play your own game, or simply to go away. That's why he wanted you on the run. He used to tell me that even he couldn't be sure that he wouldn't be surprised by one of your moves.

"And that's what happened, actually. The move he hadn't foreseen was your deal with agent Burke. And Burke was keeping too close an eye on you. We couldn't take the risk to contact you directly with him around. By the way, you owe me, Burke, because I'm the one who deterred the man from having you killed. I told him that once you were dead, Caffrey would be sent back to prison, and the whole game would return to start one."

"That's why", Fowler continued, "he made me frame Neal for the heist of the pink diamond. At best, that would send him back on the run, at least, it would create a rift between you and him. And that was also a way to show Kate that he wasn't making empty threats, that he actually had the power to destroy both of you if she ever warned you against us. Besides, he had made me put a tracking device on her, and she had to carry a bug in her pocket all the time. That's why we let you meet her, agent Burke, when you found her whereabouts and left her a message saying you wanted to talk to her. She had been told exactly what so say to make you even more suspicious of her. Of course, we didn't want you to think she needed to be rescued."

"And that's why", said Neal painfully, "that man decided to kill her when Peter arrived at the aiport. He couldn't take the risk that Peter would talk me out of running away and would help me convince Kate to talk, in spite of his threats."

Fowler shook his head. "Kate knew far too much", he said. "I know that he might say that Kate died because of Burke's interference if he ever meets you again, he told me he would. I know he still hopes he will be able to use you, or even have you in his team. But as for Kate, I think he never intended to let her live. He suggested to Kate the idea to blow the plane during the flight, to make everyone believe you were dead, but in fact, he had planned to arrive the moment you were about to join Kate in the plane. I don't know exactly what he intended to say to you, but I suppose he was about to pretend he knew I wanted to kill you and Kate instead of letting you go. Then the plane would have exploded, giving you the perfect proof that he was saying the truth, and that he was on your side. Instead of that, Peter showed up unexpectedly. He saved you, Neal, not from death, but from falling in the clutches of that man.

Neal closed his eyes. He couldn't be sure that Fowler was telling all the truth. He had every reasons to deny any responsability for Kate's death, and was obviously still terrified by the mystery man who had blackmailed him into becoming a criminal. But one thing was sure at least, one thing he had always known, in spite of anything Peter and Mozzie, oddly in tune on that point, could have said : Kate had never stopped loving him, she had been forced to behave the way she had. And Peter had not prevented him from saving her, he was not, even indirectly, responsible for his death. The pain was still here, and even some guilt, as he couldn't forget the fact that he had claimed he had stolen the music box. It was the underworld, the word he had dragged Kate into that had killed her. The pain and the guilt would never disappear completely, but at least, he had the answers he had wanted for so long.

Kate hadn't betrayed him.

_My first White Collar fan fiction ! I discovered the series not long ago and I'm completely hooked. Even if season 1 is not the best, from my point of view, one of the major mysteries in the series remains Kate's character. Her behavior is ambiguous, and Peter thinks (and many fans too) that she was Adler's accomplice. But considering how much Neal loved her, what need would she have to associate with Adler if she wanted to make Neal say where the music box was ? She didn't need any accomplices. And what need would she have of such a complicated scheme (the bottle, the Grand Central, etc…) ? Besides, how couldn't she love him back ? That's why I wrote that story, to fill the blanks and try to find explanations for her behavior. Besides, I wanted Neal to know in the end that their love had been real. There are more than enough other betrayals in his life. Please tell me what you think._

_'What we had was real',_ he thought

And he'd always cherished it.


End file.
